Indian writer- director Rituparno Ghosh from Bengal is a larger than life cultural icon whose influence spread far beyond his films. Bird of Dusk directed by Sangeeta datta is pegged on the director’s own interviews and conversations (from archives) and his personal memoirs entitled First Person and conversations with cast and crew feature Soumitra Chatterjee, Sharmila Tagore, Aparna Sen, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Nandita Das, Arjun Rampal, Konkona Sen and Mir. His cinematographer; Aveek Mukhopadhyay, editor Arghyakamal Mitra and music composer; Debajyoti Mishra discuss Ghosh’s craft of filmmaking and international festival curators (Berlin/London/Spain) endorse the filmmaker’s position in the world cinema-scape.
Rituparno lived and worked in the city of Kolkata which he loved dearly and his life and work is a product of his city and its culture. The story of Rituparno is interrelated to the changing cityscape of Kolkata as the film is shot over the course of a year. The recent writing down of Section 377 is pertinent because Ghosh was the first major filmmaker who used his public influence to make the concept of third gender more public. He was the first gay/trans filmmaker who stepped out of the closet 10 years ago after suffering social stigma in his early years. His bold assertion of identity in his own life (and in his last three films) have made him a cult figure and strongly influenced the younger generation. His statement “Be who you want to be” is today a youth slogan.
Director Sangeeta Datta held a long working association with Ghosh and was witness to the dramatic reception of his cinema, his single-handed boost to the Bengali industry, his star status and his fight for gender free identity. This is Datta’s tribute to her friend and collaborator and to their much loved city of Kolkata. In Mumbai for the MAMI festival to screen her film, Datta recalls that though she professionally associated with the filmmaker when she edited a book on him titled Rituparno Ghosh: Cinema, Gender and Art, Routledge and later became his assistant on various films.
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